I’ve been thinking a lot about Mothers Day of course, and wondering what to send to my own dear Momma this year. I decided to send a letter. Because, in the busyness of life and the quick and hurried phone conversations from 2000 miles away (even though we talk almost every day), I know I don’t say enough. I felt moved to share my letter here. I hope it will encourage you to write a Mother’s Day letter to your Momma! (I’m sharing pictures of my Momma here in this blog post… but I realized that most of the pictures I have of her include my sweet Dad! So it’s a two for one deal!)

In my meadow, the yellow dots of yesterday have transformed into fluffy cotton balls sitting on top of straws. Tomorrow they will be in various stages of disarray, like my hair.

In my pond, the chaotic anthem of peeping fills the spring night with noise. The silent nights of winter are over. Holy nights are year-round.

On the street corner in town, the strawberry man has set up rows and rows of farm baskets, strawberries toppling over the sides. He tells me he drove to the South Carolina flat lands last night, to a farm, just to share these large, sweet, fresh lovelies with us mountain folk. (okay, so yes, he was also selling those No-Bake Chocolate Cookies I love so much. Got a bag. And okay, yes, fresh cheddar cheese curds too. How could I resist?)

On a neighboring farm, the baby cows born in late fall have left their mothers, forced to a new life of independence on a different farm. I hear the mothers’ wailing for days, until they accept the stark reality of life as a mother cow. Or maybe they forget why they were lamenting. I wonder what the memory power of a cow is.

Just a few weeks ago we got hit with more snow. My garlic, having just popped up from its winter slumber to see the light, was unimpressed. My chickens agreed with the garlic: they had a meeting and boycotted the out-of-doors this snowy day.)

And then. The sunniness of this past weekend gave us all confidence that winter had moved out. I dragged my potted fig plant outside, the one I’ve been babying all winter in my garage. I made a fatal decision to leave it out last night. We were hit with a freeze and heavy, thick frost. RIP fig dreams.

And I write this blog post OUTSIDE, for the very first time in months and months. HELLO, MAY!

May makes me…

happy. hopeful. revitalized. alive.

It has always been so, but I find it to be even MORE so where I live now. I think it is because of the real winters here. Winter is harsh and snowy and cold and blustery. Back in Atlanta, the seasons are all blend-y. Winter there is not much different from spring and fall. (well, except for summer, which is not blend-y at all. Georgia summers are “hotter than Satan’s house cat.”)

But May. Oh May. You usher in loveliness.

AND YOU ALSO usher in the special time of the YOU Challenge. It is our 5th year! whaaaaaaat? Yep!

So let’s grab our shoes and put a song in you heart. Let’s go strolling together every day in merry, merry month of May. You, My Friend, are the You in YOU Challenge. Not your family, not your co-workers, not your church family, not anybody else. Just you. This month is dedicated to you, at least for a few minutes each day.

I know at first just the thought of taking time for yourself gives you a twitch in your eye. I mean, how can everyone get by if you take 30 minutes a day for you; hey, they’ll live. They’ll do fine. And that twitch will be gone by the end of the month. Your head will be clearer. You’ll breathe in more oxygen with each breath you take. You’ll feel better, physically and emotionally. And it’s so easy. Just go outside and put one foot in front of the other. The combination of fresh air, movement, and togetherness is magical. Doing something for yourself, declaring that you are worth it, is a transformational thing.

The original challenge was this: each and every day in May, lace up your walking shoes and head outside, no matter what. No. Matter. What.

Then, it evolved for some folks into doing something other than walking for themselves, swimming, biking, journaling, drawing, etc.

One year we added drinking lemon water in the morning before our coffee. That was refreshing and hydrating, so that’s a permanent part of it now.

And share. If you share your journey, you’ll bless us all.

And we all want to see where you walk! Take photos! And we want to hear how your walk was! And how you are feeling! Or if you are choosing to do something besides walking for you, we want to hear about that too.

So. You in????

May Day, May 1st, is the day we begin, but you can join in any time. When you read this post, make an agreement with yourself to do something for YOU. We have a Facebook group (Here’s the link. It’s private, you have to request to join.) where we post pics and chat up a storm. We encourage each other and enjoy our time together. So much fun. And so inspiring and encouraging. JOIN US!

I’ve particularly excited this year. I have been looking forward to it! In joyful anticipation, I got home this evening and mowed the overgrown path on my farm that I like to walk. It takes me through the rows of Christmas trees and out into the horse pasture. Whew, my winter months were full of heavy lifting; it has taken a toll on my soul. Of course, I say that every year: oh I’ve never needed this more; oh, this came just in time; oh, this and that.

But it is true every single year. I need this month of May challenge with my sisters. Shall we, Dear Ones? Let’s!

Put me in an antiques, thrift store, or flea market, and I never want to leave! My favorite treasures are pieces found for my kitchen. Retro kitchen items from the ‘40’s to ‘60’s give my kitchen a happy, vintage vibe. I especially adore Atomic age, kitschy kitchen contraptions with names that sound like they’re right out of an episode of the Jetsons! Continue reading →

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
~ Mark Twain

Debbie Bosworth

is a certified farmgirl at heart. She’s happily married to her beach bum Yankee husband of 20 years. She went from career gal to being a creative homeschooling mom for two of her biggest blessings and hasn’t looked back since. Debbie left her lifelong home in the high desert of Northern Nevada 10 years ago and washed up on the shore of America’s hometown, Plymouth, MA, where she and her family are now firmly planted. They spend part of each summer in a tiny, off–grid beach cottage named “The Sea Horse.”

“I found a piece of my farmgirl heart when I discovered MaryJanesFarm. Suddenly, everything I loved just made more sense! I enjoy unwinding at the beach, writing, gardening, and turning yard-sale furniture into ‘Painted Ladies’ I’m passionate about living a creative life and encouraging others to ‘make each day their masterpiece.’”

Rebekah Teal

is a “MaryJane Farmgirl” who lives in a large metropolitan area. She is a lawyer who has worked in both criminal defense and prosecution. She has been a judge, a business woman and a stay-at-home mom. In addition to her law degree, she has a Masters of Theological Studies.

“Mustering up the courage to do the things you dream about,” she says, “is the essence of being a MaryJane Farmgirl.” Learning to live more organically and closer to nature is Rebekah’s current pursuit. She finds strength and encouragement through MaryJane’s writings, life, and products. And MaryJane’s Farmgirl Connection provides her a wealth of knowledge from true-blue farmgirls.

“Keep close to Nature’s heart … and break clear away once in awhile to climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods, to wash your spirit clean.”
~ John Muir

Cathi Belcher

an old-fashioned farmgirl with a pioneer spirit, lives in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. As a “lifelong learner” in the “Live-Free-or-Die” state, she fiercely values self-reliance, independence, freedom, and fresh mountain air. Married to her childhood sweetheart of 40+ years (a few of them “uphill climbs”), she’s had plenty of time to reinvent herself. From museum curator, restaurant owner, homeschool mom/conference speaker, to post-and-beam house builder and entrepreneur, she’s also a multi-media artist, with an obsession for off-grid living and alternative housing. Cathi owns and operates a 32-room mountain lodge. Her specialty has evolved to include “hermit hospitality” at her rustic cabin in the mountains, where she offers weekend workshops of special interest to women.

“Mountains speak to my soul, and farming is an important part of my heritage. I want to pass on my love of these things to others through my writing. Living in the mountains has its own particular challenges, but I delight in turning them into opportunities from which we can all learn and grow.”

Dori Troutman

Dori Troutman is the daughter of second generation cattle ranchers in New Mexico. She grew up working and playing on the ranch that her grandparents homesteaded in 1928. That ranch, with the old adobe home, is still in the family today. Dori and her husband always yearned for a ranch of their own. That dream came true when they retired to the beautiful green rolling hills of Tennessee. Truly a cattleman’s paradise!

Dori loves all things farmgirl and actually has known no other life but that. She loves to cook, craft, garden, and help with any and all things on their cattle farm.

Shery Jespersen

Previous Ranch Farmgirl,Oct 2009 – Nov 2013

Wyoming cattle rancher and outpost writer (rider), shares the “view from her saddle.” Shery is a leather and lace cowgirl-farmgirl who’s been horse-crazy all of her life. Her other interests include “junktiques,” arts and crafts, glamping, collecting antique china, and cultivating mirth.

Farmgirlis a condition
of the heart.

Alexandra Wilson

is a budding rural farmgirl living in Palmer, the agricultural seat of Alaska. Alex is a graduate student at Alaska Pacific University pursuing an M.S. in Outdoor and Environmental Education. She lives and works on the university’s 700 acre environmental education center, Spring Creek Farm. When Alex has time outside of school, she loves to rock climb, repurpose found objects, cross-country ski on the hay fields, travel, practice yoga, and cook with new-fangled ingredients.

Alex grew up near the Twin Cities and went to college in Madison, Wisconsin—both places where perfectly painted barns and rolling green farmland are just a short drive away. After college, she taught at a rural middle school in South Korea where she biked past verdant rice paddies and old women selling home-grown produce from sidewalk stoops. She was introduced to MaryJanesFarm after returning, and found in it what she’d been searching for—a group of incredible women living their lives in ways that benefit their families, their communities, and the greater environment. What an amazing group of farmgirls to be a part of!

Libbie Zenger

Previous Rural Farmgirl,June 2010 – Jan 2012

Libbie’s a small town farmgirl who lives in the high-desert Sevier Valley of Central Utah on a 140-year-old farm with her husband and two darling little farmboys—as well as 30 ewes; 60 new little lambs; a handful of rams; a lovely milk cow, Evelynn; an old horse, Doc; two dogs; a bunch o’ chickens; and two kitties.

René Groom

Previous Rural Farmgirl,April 2009 – May 2010

René lives in Washington state’s wine country. She grew up in the dry-land wheat fields of E. Washington, where learning to drive the family truck and tractors, and “snipe hunting,” were rites of passage. She has dirt under her nails and in her veins. In true farmgirl fashion, there is no place on Earth she would rather be than on the farm.

Farmgirl spirit can take root anywhere—dirt or no dirt.

Nicole Christensen

calls herself a knitter, jam-maker, and vintage enthusiast who "never met an antique sewing machine she didn't like." Born and raised in the great state of Texas, she now resides in suburban New England in picturesque Connecticut, just a stone’s throw from New York state.

Married for over twenty years to her Danish-born sweetheart, Nicole has worked in various fields and has been a world-traveler, entrepreneur, and homemaker, but considers being a mom her greatest accomplishment of all. In addition to blogging, she also teaches knitting professionally and is a Certified Master Gardener. Loving all things creative and domestic, Nicole considers her life’s motto to be “bloom where you are planted.”

Paula Spencer

Previous Suburban Farmgirl,October 2009 – October 2010

Paula is a mom of four and a journalist who’s partial to writing about common sense and women’s interests. She’s lived in five great farm states (Michigan, Iowa, New York, Tennessee, and now North Carolina), though never on a farm. She’s nevertheless inordinately fond of heirloom tomatoes, fine stitching, early mornings, and making pies. And sock monkeys.